This book introduces a completely novel architecture that can relax the trade-off existing today between noise, power and area consumption in a very suitable solution for advanced wireless communication systems. Through the combination of charge-domain operation with incremental signaling, this architecture gives the best of both worlds, providing the reduced area and high portability of digital-intensive architectures with an improved out-of-band noise performance given by intrinsic noise filtering capabilities. Readers will be enabled to design higher performance radio front-ends that consume less power and area, especially with respect to the transmitter and power amplifier designs, considered by many the "battery killers" on most mobile devices.

This thesis presents an experimental study of quantum memory based on cold atomic ensembles and discusses photonic entanglement. It mainly focuses on experimental research on storing orbital angular momentum, and introduces readers to methods for storing a single photon carried by an image or an entanglement of spatial modes. The thesis also discusses the storage of photonic entanglement using the Raman scheme as a step toward implementing high-bandwidth quantum memory. The storage of photonic entanglement is central to achieving long-distance quantum communication based on quantum repeaters and scalable linear optical quantum computation. Addressing this key issue, the findings presented in the thesis are very promising with regard to future high-speed and high-capacity quantum communications.

This monograph introduces novel responses to the different problems that arise when multiple robots need to execute a task in cooperation, each robot in the team having a monocular camera as its primary input sensor. Its central proposition is that a consistent perception of the world is crucial for the good development of any multi-robot application. The text focuses on the high-level problem of cooperative perception by a multi-robot system: the idea that, depending on what each robot sees and its current situation, it will need to communicate these things to its fellows whenever possible to share what it has found and keep updated by them in its turn. However, in any realistic scenario, distributed solutions to this problem are not trivial and need to be addressed from as many angles as possible. Distributed Consensus with Visual Perception in Multi-Robot Systems covers a variety of related topics such as: * distributed consensus algorithms; * data association and robustness problems; * convergence speed; and * cooperative mapping. The book first puts forward algorithmic solutions to these problems and then supports them with empirical validations working with real images. It provides the reader with a deeper understanding of the problems associated to the perception of the world by a team of cooperating robots with onboard cameras. Academic researchers and graduate students working with multi-robot systems, or investigating problems of distributed control or computer vision and cooperative perception will find this book of material assistance with their studies.

This book presents a class of novel, self-learning, optimal control schemes based on adaptive dynamic programming techniques, which quantitatively obtain the optimal control schemes of the systems. It analyzes the properties identified by the programming methods, including the convergence of the iterative value functions and the stability of the system under iterative control laws, helping to guarantee the effectiveness of the methods developed. When the system model is known, self-learning optimal control is designed on the basis of the system model; when the system model is not known, adaptive dynamic programming is implemented according to the system data, effectively making the performance of the system converge to the optimum. With various real-world examples to complement and substantiate the mathematical analysis, the book is a valuable guide for engineers, researchers, and students in control science and engineering.

This book presents vehicular ad-hoc networks (VANETs) from the their onset, gradually going into technical details, providing a clear understanding of both theoretical foundations and more practical investigation. The editors gathered top-ranking authors to provide comprehensiveness and timely content; the invited authors were carefully selected from a list of who's who in the respective field of interest: there are as many from Academia as from Standardization and Industry sectors from around the world. The covered topics are organized around five Parts starting from an historical overview of vehicular communications and standardization/harmonization activities (Part I), then progressing to the theoretical foundations of VANETs and a description of the day-one standard-compliant solutions (Part II), hence going into details of vehicular networking and security (Part III) and to the tools to study VANETs, from mobility and channel models, to network simulators and field trial methodologies (Part IV), and finally looking into the future of VANETs by investigating alternative, complementary communication technologies, innovative networking paradigms and visionary applications (Part V). The way the content is organized, with a differentiated level of technical details, makes the book a valuable reference for a large pool of target readers ranging from undergraduate, graduate and PhD students, to wireless scientists and engineers, to service providers and stakeholders in the automotive, ITS, ICT sectors.

This book covers various algorithmic developments in the perfect reconstruction cosine/sine-modulated filter banks (TDAC-MDCT/MDST or MLT, MCLT, low delay MDCT, complex exponential/cosine/sine-modulated QMF filter banks), and near-perfect reconstruction QMF banks (pseudo-QMF banks) in detail, including their general mathematical properties, matrix representations, fast algorithms and various methods to integer approximations being recently a new transform technology for lossless audio coding. Each chapter will contain a number of examples and will conclude with problems and exercises. The book reflects the research efforts/activities and achieved results of the authors in the time period over the last 20 years.

This book discusses the development of promising technologies for compact antennas for high data-rate communications. It discusses and analyzes the design of compact ultra-wideband (UWB) and multiple input, multiple output (MIMO) antennas, providing essential know-how for designers, practicing engineers and scientists. These wireless communication technologies enable consumers to have convenient access to a wide range of services - anytime, anywhere. And the introduction of wireless mobile access points eliminates the limitations to communication imposed by geographical location. The Internet has allowed people to access and share information much more rapidly, but in order to achieve higher data rates with the limited available resources and imposed constraints, wireless communication technology needs to be pushed beyond the physical limits of the propagation channel. This book contributes to achieving this goal.

This thesis reports on the use of scanning tunnelling microscopy to elucidate the atomic-scale electronic structure of a charge density wave, revealing that it has a d-symmetry form factor, hitherto unobserved in nature. It then details the development of an entirely new class of scanned probe: the scanning Josephson tunnelling microscope. This scans the Josephson junction formed between a cuprate superconducting microscope tip and the surface of a cuprate sample, thereby imaging the superfluid density of the sample with nanometer resolution. This novel method is used to establish the existence of a spatially modulated superconducting condensate, something postulated theoretically over half a century ago but never previously observed.

This volume contains the proceedings of the 26th International Conference on Robotics in Alpe-Adria-Danube Region, RAAD 2017, held at the Polytechnic University of Turin, Italy, from June 21-23, 2017. The conference brought together academic and industrial researchers in robotics from 30 countries, the majority of them affiliated to the Alpe-Adria-Danube Region, and their worldwide partners. RAAD 2017 covered all major areas of R&D and innovation in robotics, including the latest research trends. The book provides an overview on the advances in service and industrial robotics. The topics are presented in a sequence starting from the classical robotic subjects, such as kinematics, dynamics, structures, control, and ending with the newest topics, like human-robot interaction and biomedical applications. Researchers involved in the robotic field will find this an extraordinary and up-to-date perspective on the state of the art in this area.

Microwave photonics and information optics provide high bandwidth and precision along with ultrafast speed at a low cost. In order to reduce noise at the communication trans-receivers, scattering in the devices needs to be decreased, which can be achieved by replacing optoelectronic devices with photonic devices because in the latter only photons propagate electromagnetic waves. Contemporary Developments in High-Frequency Photonic Devices is a crucial research book that examines high-frequency photonics and their applications in communication engineering. Featuring coverage on a wide range of topics such as metamaterials, optoelectronic devices, and plasmonics, this book is excellent for students, researchers, engineers, and professionals.

This book documents the state of the art in the field of ambient assisted living (AAL), highlighting the impressive potential of novel methodologies and technologies to enhance well-being and promote active ageing. The coverage is wide ranging, with sections on assistive devices, elderly people monitoring, home rehabilitation, ICT solutions for AAL, living with chronic conditions, robotic assistance for the elderly, sensing technologies for AAL, and smart housing. The book comprises a selection of the best papers presented at the 7th Italian Forum on Ambient Assisted Living (ForitAAL 2016), which was held in Pisa, Italy, in June 2016 and brought together end users, technology teams, and policy makers to develop a consensus on how to improve provision for elderly and impaired people. Readers will find that the expert contributions offer clear insights into the ways in which the most recent exciti ng advances may be expected to assist in addressing the needs of the elderly and those with chronic conditions.

This book describes the design, fabrication and evaluation of a polymer-based neural interface for a cochlear electrode array, reviewed in terms of fabrication process, functionality, and reliability. Polymer-based devices have attracted attention in the neural prosthetic field due to their flexibility and compatibility with micro-fabrication process. A liquid crystal polymer (LCP) is an inert, highly water-resistant polymer suitable for the encapsulation of electronic components and as a substrate material for fabricating neural interfaces. The author has designed, fabricated, and evaluated an LCP-based cochlear electrode array for an improved polymer-based cochlear implant. The thesis deals with 3 key topics: atraumatic deep insertion, tripolar stimulation, and long-term reliability. Atraumatic insertion of the intracochlear electrode and resulting preservation of residual hearing have become essential in state-of-the-art cochlear implantation. A novel tapered design of an LCP-based cochlear electrode array is presented to meet such goals. For high-density and pitch-recognizable cochlear implant, channel interaction should be avoided. Local tripolar stimulation using multi-layered electrode sites are shown to achieve highly focused electrical stimulation. This thesis addresses another vital issue in the polymer-based neural implants: the long-term reliability issue. After suggesting a new method of forming mechanical interlocking to improve polymer-metal adhesion, the author performs accelerating aging tests to verify the method's efficacy. The aforementioned three topics have been thoroughly examined through various in vitro and in vivo studies. Verification foresees the development of LCP-based cochlear electrode array for an atraumatic deep insertion, advanced stimulation, and long-term clinical implant.

This book proposes the air insulation prediction theory and method in the subject of electrical engineering. Prediction of discharge voltage in different cases are discussed and worked out by simulation. After decades, now bottlenecks of traditional air discharge theories can be solved with this book. Engineering applications of the theory in air gap discharge voltage prediction are introduced. This book serves as reference for graduate students, scientific research personnel and engineering staff in the related fields.

This book is written for academic and industry professionals working in the field of sensing, instrumentation and related fields, and is positioned to give a snapshot of the current state of the art in sensing technology, particularly from the applied perspective. The book is intended to give broad overview of the latest developments, in addition to discussing the process through which researchers go through in order to develop sensors, or related systems, which will become more widespread in the future.

The explosion in the wireless industry, coupled with the higher frequencies in today's digital integrated circuits (IC) has made vital the need for accurate IC testing. This is the first book dedicated to the issues surrounding RFIC testing. This ground breaking work enables professionals to perform high-accuracy RF measurements of die and packages in the RF test lab. This timely volume defines the essential elements in an RF system, explains where errors can be found in such a system and shows how to mathematically remove them with calibration.

This book presents techniques necessary to predict cardiac arrhythmias, long before they occur, based on minimal ECG data. The authors describe the key information needed for automated ECG signal processing, including ECG signal pre-processing, feature extraction and classification. The adaptive and novel ECG processing techniques introduced in this book are highly effective and suitable for real-time implementation on ASICs.

This is an applications-oriented text that describes the basics of EM fields and gives solutions to crosstalk problems using relevant formulas, experiments and analysis.

This book discusses analysis, design and optimization techniques for streaming multiprocessor systems, while satisfying a given area, performance, and energy budget. The authors describe design flows for both application-specific and general purpose streaming systems. Coverage also includes the use of machine learning for thermal optimization at run-time, when an application is being executed. The design flow described in this book extends to thermal and energy optimization with multiple applications running sequentially and concurrently.

This book provides a comprehensive overview of both theoretical and pragmatic aspects of resource-allocation and scheduling in multiprocessor and multicore hard-real-time systems. The authors derive new, abstract models of real-time tasks that capture accurately the salient features of real application systems that are to be implemented on multiprocessor platforms, and identify rules for mapping application systems onto the most appropriate models. New run-time multiprocessor scheduling algorithms are presented, which are demonstrably better than those currently used, both in terms of run-time efficiency and tractability of off-line analysis. Readers will benefit from a new design and analysis framework for multiprocessor real-time systems, which will translate into a significantly enhanced ability to provide formally verified, safety-critical real-time systems at a significantly lower cost.

This book discusses the design and implementation of energy harvesting systems targeting wearable devices. The authors describe in detail the different energy harvesting sources that can be utilized for powering low-power devices in general, focusing on the best candidates for wearable applications. Coverage also includes state-of-the-art interface circuits, which can be used to accept energy from harvesters and deliver it to a device in the most efficient way. Finally, the authors present power management circuits for using multiple energy harvesting sources at the same time to power devices and to enhance efficiency of the system.

Deregulation has presented the electricity industry with many new challenges in power system planning and operation. Power engineers must understand the negative effect of harmonics on an electrical power network resulting from the extensive use of power electronics-based equipment. Serving as a complete reference to harmonics modelling, simulation and analysis, this book lays the foundations for optimising quality of power supply in the planning, design and operation phases.

Features Include:

• MATLAB function codes to aid the development of harmonic software and provide a hands-on approach to the theory presented.
• Insight into the use of alternative, increased efficiency, harmonic domain techniques.
• Examination of the harmonic modelling and analysis of FACTS, along with conventional and custom power plant equipment.
• Clear presentation of the basic analytical approaches to harmonic theory and techniques for the resolution of harmonic distortion.

This book gives a comprehensive overview of recent advances in developing nanowires for building various kinds of electronic devices. Specifically the applications of nanowires in detectors, sensors, circuits, energy storage and conversion, etc., are reviewed in detail by the experts in this field. Growth methods of different kinds of nanowires are also covered when discussing the electronic applications. Through discussing these cutting edge researches, the future directions of nanowire electronics are identified.

The design of circuits capable of generating short electrical pulses at very high power levels has been the subject of considerable research over the last 50 years. Much of this work is dispersed throughout conference proceedings and journals. There are very few books dedicated to the subject. Transient Electronics redresses the balance with a comprehensive survey of the most significant work in the field. It will serve as a self-contained guide to the application of pulsed circuit techniques in pulsed power technology.

Features include:

• A comprehensive guide to the use of the Laplace transform method for the analysis of the transient response of electronic circuits and transmission lines.

• A survey of pulse forming line and pulse forming network techniques including detailed analysis of their performance.

• A review of the many different types of pulsed transformer including transmission line transformers.

• Coverage of a wide range of specialised pulse generating circuits used in pulsed power generation.

• A chapter on the relatively new field of non-linear pulsed circuit technology.

This book offers readers comprehensive coverage of security policy specification using new policy languages, implementation of security policies in Systems-on-Chip (SoC) designs - current industrial practice, as well as emerging approaches to architecting SoC security policies and security policy verification. The authors focus on a promising security architecture for implementing security policies, which satisfies the goals of flexibility, verification, and upgradability from the ground up, including a plug-and-play hardware block in which all policy implementations are enclosed. Using this architecture, they discuss the ramifications of designing SoC security policies, including effects on non-functional properties (power/performance), debug, validation, and upgrade. The authors also describe a systematic approach for "hardware patching", i.e., upgrading hardware implementations of security requirements safely, reliably, and securely in the field, meeting a critical need for diverse Internet of Things (IoT) devices. Provides comprehensive coverage of SoC security requirements, security policies, languages, and security architecture for current and emerging computing devices; Explodes myths and ambiguities in SoC security policy implementations, and provide a rigorous treatment of the subject; Demonstrates a rigorous, step-by-step approach to developing a diversity of SoC security policies; Introduces a rigorous, disciplined approach to "hardware patching", i.e., secure technique for updating hardware functionality of computing devices in-field; Includes discussion of current and emerging approaches for security policy verification.